I Found You
by xforevrgonex
Summary: They grew up in the same small town without noticing each other. Until one day, they run into each other in a hidden coffee shop. Slow and shy is their preferred pace, but they change just as quickly as the seasons do. ConnorxOC. Coffee Shop AU. (M rated for future chapters)
1. Prologue

Nothing ever happened in the simple town of his. At least, not in the last few years he had been gone. After completing his own travels around the world, he returned to a lonely studio apartment above a local coffee shop; just far enough from town to be peaceful and hidden from tourists. He smiled softly when entering the untouched space, welcoming the faint smell of coffee beans and paint. His bags were set down by the closed industrial door as he occupied himself with opening up all the windows; letting out the heady fumes accumulated by the paint cans that littered nearly every nook and cranny in the apartment. Sunlight streamed in, happy to cover the entire space by warmth and light. Unframed pictures and empty mason jars littered the space and collected a film of dust on their surfaces. He missed his home, and the familiar quiet of his flat let him know he was welcome to fill it with noise.

A soft beep came from the corner of the room, and a red number flashed on the voicemail machine. Ninety three messages from the past two years, it was more than he anticipated but began listening to them anyways. The first few messages were of his mother, rambling on about how she missed him and so on. Others were telemarketers selling timeshares and unnecessary necessities. The rest of them came from the same person who he had left his home in hopes of forgetting; to try and find a way to console the pain that stuffed itself in between the cracks of his ribs. In a sense it did. A hurt was dulled to a soft pang in his chest every time he heard a Chase Coy song, or when someone mentioned the way lavender smelled in the summer. In his mind, he was completely fixed.

Before he left, he was green to the world and all that went on in it. In the time span of two years he had grown. He stood taller with his shoulders set square and his back straighter. He had forgotten the pain that accumulated in between the cracks in his ribs and solidified like concrete. He learned to live with the hurt of the past and felt he had moved past it. But he had relapsed and found himself dangerously close to the edge of a cliff he was ready to fall off once again.

A soft knock at his door brought him out of his thoughts and had him heading towards the door. He looked through the peep hole and stood back to take a deep breath. A second knock came and caused his strong heart to beat loudly in his ears. His fingertips warmed the door knob as he stood perfectly still and debated opening the door. He didn't need to see anyone now, right? He could pretend he wasn't home. A third knock came and a heavy sigh left his lips as he opened the door reluctantly.

"Hey, Connor."

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(A/N) Hey guys! This is the start of my second story on here, and I'm excited to start posting. I'll try to update as frequently as possible. Don't worry about 'Misplaced Fire', the next chapter is nearly done. Until next time!


	2. Chapter 1: Coffee and Steam

Chapter 1: February, 7, 2011

6:30 AM. The sun had barely passed the peaks of the treetops in the windows. A small alarm clock went off and a large hand lazily hit the snooze button. On instinct, Connor had ignored the need to get up and dosed off to sleep again. This was the part of the day many people hated, and this man was no exception. He slowly rolled to his side and was met by another warm body. Just like him, his large dog, Bruno, simply chose to hate mornings as well.

Unable to fall back into a state of sleep, Connor stared at the morning light rising on his ceiling. Being awake and not having his body moving in someway started to bother him. A slightly wet nose nuzzled into his side urging him to get up and a small laugh came from Connor, "I'll move if you get up." A small whine came from the large mastiff besides him. With a groggy chuckle, Connor swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood to stretch towards the high ceiling. A short yawn came from him as he walked towards the kitchen counter, and picked up the kettle already filled halfway with water from the night before. Three clicks of the stove's gas, and Connor placed the steel pot on the range to boil. Feeling accomplished from completing the first task of the day, he laid down on the large couch underneath a row of large windows. Not long after him, the dark brown mastiff padded softly on the floor towards his owner and laid on top of him sleepily.

The kettle atop the stove whistled and both inhabitants of this oddly large studio apartment slept lightly, enjoying the warmth radiating from their small heater. After a couple of minutes, Connor crawled out from under his beast of a dog and slowly poured the boiling water into his mug a top the counter. A small jar filled with mint tea was set to the side, and Connor reached for a small pouch and dropped it into the ceramic mug. The refreshing smell slowly pulled Connor completely awake, when a moment later the phone across the room began to ring. The noise bothered neither him, nor Bruno, until the home phone began ringing after being sent to voice mail; the ringing effectively disrupting the easy mood of their early morning. Connor usually never got to the phone in time, but this morning he reached it with reluctance. An irritated grumble came from him momentarily as he put the phone down on the receiver angrily. He reached for his mug from the kitchen counter and called over his shoulder, "Bruno, remind me to disconnect that thing." The large dog barked in recognition and resumed his sleeping.

As the rest of Connor's morning panned out, the coffee shop below his studio began catering to its morning rush. The shower cut off slowly, and the steam from the bathroom exited to slowly fill the rest of the studio. It mixed with the intoxicating smell of coffee grounds filtering through the air vents. He always believed smelling coffee was enough to get you caffeinated, so there was no need for him to consume any of it. Though the owner of the shop below rented the space above his establishment to Connor, he rarely saw him entering the small shop. When he did visit the coffee shop down stairs, he usually opted for a slice of banana bread and a mug of black tea.

"Bruno, is it time for a walk?" The clock on the wall read '8:16' and Bruno's ears perked up quickly. The chilly winter air made its way through the cracks of the window sill and brushed against Connor's skin leaving goosebumps. Connor bundled up quickly and slipped on his snow boots. Unlike his owner, Bruno came bundled up in a soft thick coat of chocolate brown fur. The intelligent dog picked through his basket and found his sturdy leash. A soft whining noise came from the fluffy animal as his snout pushed against Connor's calloused palm. With a gently scratch between the ears, Connor connected the leash to a thick leather collar that hung a little loose around Bruno's neck. After a moment he checked his pockets for the house keys and his wallet.

"Bruno, let's go?" His soft voice reached the dog and a bark came in reply. Once the door was open, a breeze of cold air blew past Connor and chilled the tips of his ears. The metal stairs that hugged the side of the building led down to the side of the busy coffee shop. One man Stood by the door way stamping out a cigarette butt and looked over his shoulder to nod casually at the passing Connor. The two strangers have acknowledged each other since the apartment had been occupied and have stayed that way, strangers. Though Connor has been living there for a while, he has seen many of the regulars and never found the need to befriend any of them. He was content on just observing the people that came and went when he left his home, being social was not a strong point of his.

"Good morning, Connor," the owner of the shop, Altair, walked up beside him and buried his hands into the pockets of his pants. Connor smiled softly and nodded his head, "Are you not cold? Where is your jacket?"

"Oh, I just went to take out the trash. There's no need for that bulky thing," a warm smile came from chattering teeth and Connor couldn't hold back a chuckle. Bruno's tail wagged against his owner's tail rapidly and Connor lowered his hand to scratch behind the dog's ear, "Alright, we're going. It was good seeing you again, Altair. Have a good morning."

"You too, stop by for some tea later on if you aren't busy."

"I will," Connor waved him goodbye and resumed his walk with Bruno. (1,016)

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><p>Edit: Sorry for typos and rushed update from last time. But I reviewed it and fixed all the mistakes that I made. I'm pretty sure that I fixed everything, but comment and tell me if I missed anything. Also thank you for the first two followers of my story, GamerPhotos and kpartridge93. I'm estimating that the next update is coming either next week or two. I apologize again for the rushed update, but I feel like that I needed to be updating my stories on here. I know and have felt the struggle of an author that hasn't updated stories for a while. So if you have been waiting for updates on 'Misplaced Fire' I'm working on the next chapter as well as this one. Thank you again for your patience and until next time, my dear readers!<p>

xforevrgonex


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